Fewer children face severe deprivation

The misery and hardship endured by the world’s children is easing year after year. The share living in “severe deprivation” dropped by a third so far this century, according to UNICEF’s 2025 report.

This fits the pattern. A recent World Bank report showed the number of children living in households with less than 3 dollars a day falling globally over just the past decade by a little more than 17 percent – even as total population rose. This is the continuation of a very long trend. Child poverty, child mortality, and the number of children with debilitating diseases have been falling for decades, even centuries, and still are. For example, the global death rate from childhood leukemia has fallen nearly 60 percent over 30 years.

This new report on falling deprivation is not based on household income. It measures access to education, health, housing, nutrition, sanitation, and clean water. It too finds an improving global picture.

Sources: UNICEF, World Bank, BMC Pediatrics